MANILA // Philippine police deployed Katy Perry pop songs to disperse protesters at an Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit on Thursday, enraging some demonstrators but amusing others.
Hundreds of left-wing protesters rallied outside a venue where US president Barack Obama and other leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group were meeting.
The rally edged towards violence when protesters tried to break through lines of police, who were carrying riot shields and wooden batons, to reach the summit venue.
Police responded by firing water cannons and scuffled with protesters who were chanting: “Junk APEC”.
Then police pulled out their secret weapon: pop princess Katy Perry on giant loudspeakers.
Ms Perry’s hit song “Roar” was played at full volume, the top of a demonstration disco playlist aimed at distracting the protesters and drowning out their chants.
Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the stream” and the Bee Gee’s “How deep is your love” were among the other songs deployed against the protesters.
To add a street bass beat, some of the police tapped their batons against their shields in time with the music.
“It’s ridiculous,” leftist member of parliament Carlos Isagani Zarate said, as the protesters retreated to soul classic “My Girl”.
Many other protesters also expressed anger at authorities trying to suppress their message of opposition to globalisation and free-trade policies championed by APEC.
“We just want to make our voices heard,” 64-year-old mango farmer Candelario Rusasena said.
But others could not hide their amusement.
“That was a rude and desperate move,” 54-year-old rice farmer Redo Pena said as he broke into a toothless grin.
* Agence France-Presse
